Teaching Art Weaving in Kuwait!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop in the “Fun with Textiles” series for the Sadu House in Kuwait. The workshops are sponsored by Gulf Bank and are to expose children aged 6-12 to the textile arts. Since the Sadu House is a cultural museum based on the art of traditional Bedouin weaving, I thought it would be nice to introduce them to the basics of weaving. I know that some children may have done a little weaving already, so I wanted to make this workshop a little different. We had them draw and color a picture on a paper towel first, and then cut it into strips to weave into their piece. Adding this element really showed their creativity.

We used cardboard looms and showed them how to warp the loom, and how to do a plain Tabby Weave (simple over 1, under 1 weaving). I wanted to show them more weaving techniques, but they all loved the basic weaving so much, that they just wanted to continue with that. Those who finished quickly were able to learn how to make tassels on each end of their weaving.

I was so impressed with their creations. They were all so beautiful and unique! I hope it opened up their minds as to some of the amazing possibilities of weaving and working with yarn. 

Gulf Bank put together a promo video from the day, and there is some great footage of the kids hard at work. Click on the play button in the post below to see it!
 

بنك الخليج وجمعية السدو يستأنفان ورش عمل "المرح مع النسيج" التي تهدف نحو تنمية مهارات الأطفال وتعزيز قدراتهم في صناعة المشغولات اليدوية والحفاظ على التراث الكويتي وتقاليده العريقة Gulf Bank and Al Sadu Society Resume ‘Fun with Textiles’ Workshops that teach children skills in crafts and textile art techniques to preserve Kuwaiti traditions and heritage @saduhouse #kuwait #gulfbank #csr #بيت_السدو

A post shared by Gulf Bank (@gulf_bank) on Sep 23, 2017 at 10:12am PDT

Far Out Ruana for Interweave Crochet 2017!

In my last post I told you about my Cool Cat Cuff design in the new Fall Issue of Interweave Crochet, and today I will tell you about the second design- the Far Out Ruana. This design also started out as a smaller project, inspired by their call for crochet that looks like macrame. I devised a stitch pattern after studying various macrame knot combinations. It is basically a series of chains that are joined together at different intervals. It has a lovely drape, and it looks a little like a fancy fish net. It looks different when it is stretched out vs. draped over your shoulder which is interesting and eye-catching.

My original idea was a for a delicate scarf. The editor really liked the stitch pattern and decided she wanted it to be used on a larger scale project, a ruana. A ruana is a fun and versatile piece to have in your wardrobe. It is like a garment, but functions as a shawl too.

If you like the idea of the stitch pattern to be used in a scarf, you can just do less rows, and customize the length of a panel to your desired length.

The Ruana is made in two panels and then crocheted together with some decorative detailing added to the center back. My photos the finished sample seemed to have disappeared from my files, so I can't show you in this post, but I plan to take photos when I get the sample back so I can point out the details! Since the stitch pattern is mainly chains, it only takes 4 skeins of yarn, and the yarn used in the sample is a readily available and affordable yarn, Lion Brand Heartland.

Post Update:

Thanks to one of my blog readers, it has come to my attention that the edging instructions for this pattern were mistakenly left out of the magazine. I contacted Interweave and they said they will update Ravelry and their errata page with these instructions. 

Cool Cat Crochet Cuffs for Interweave Crochet Fall 2017!

Fall is my favorite time of year and I am always so happy to have designs featured in the new fall issue of Interweave Crochet! 

In this Issue I have 2 designs, the first of which I will talk about today. My favorite thing to design is jewelry, and I can never resist a call for jewelry designs! 

I also love mixing techniques, and I wanted to incorporate some weaving this time. I designed a bracelet that looked like woven links using surface crochet details.

When I heard back from the magazine, they asked if I could make the bracelet into a cuff, so we decided to double the width. They also sent me a finer yarn to use, so the result is quite different from my original submission! You can easily make the cuffs into a bracelet by crocheting half of the stitches. Cuff or bracelet. Customize as you like! Below is the magazine version that was put into their 70's themed section of the magazine. It is great that the editor was able to work my submission into her retro vision!

 If you would like to see all of the lovely designs featured in this issue, they are all up on Ravelry now. Visit the page and show the designers some love and favorite your favorites! The Cool Cat Cuff is also available for sale as an individual pattern from the Interweave online store.